The country was difficult, consisting of rude mountain tracks, with
dense and impenetrable jungle between. One peculiarity of this jungle
was its being infested with leeches, which “penetrate loosely-woven
cloths, and deprive the wearer of a good deal of blood before he finds
them out. They get far up the noses of horses, goats, etc., and cannot
be removed without subjecting the poor animal to a couple of days
without water, which being afterwards offered to him, the leeches also
want to drink, and may be seized. If allowed to remain, the animal
becomes a mere skeleton.” The order of march, too, was peculiar in
such a terrain. Flanking patrols were impossible, and the column was
therefore protected by small bodies halted in succession, which in due
course joined the rear of the column as fresh bodies in advance took
their place.
The defence was not serious: there was some desultory jungle fighting,
with little loss on either side; there were stockades and stone
breastworks constructed, but not seriously held or for long; there were
huge masses of stone, “booby traps,” so arranged on a bamboo platform
that a few cuts with a knife would release them to roll down the
mountain side, but no loss was effected by them. Finally, the country
was pacified and war ceased; but a second expedition, in which the
Derbyshire Regiment took part, was necessary in 1888, where the same
difficulties were encountered and surmounted, and a small engagement
took place at Gnatong.
The small Umbeylah, or Ambela, campaign, as it spelt in the official
history, was somewhat more serious. There had been fanatical outbreaks
by Hindustanis in the district beyond the territory of the Buner Khels,
lying opposite the Hazara district of the Indus valley, and bordering
on the area ruled by the Akhund of Swat. This personage was a spiritual
as well as a temporal ruler, and combined theological distinction with
political power.
The force was organised in two columns. That in the Hazara district had
the 51st and 93rd Regiments, with the native troops, and was intended
to watch the frontier at first defensively. The other had at first the
71st Highland Light Infantry and the 101st Royal Bengal Fusiliers to
stiffen the Indian regiments, and to these were added later the 79th
and 7th Royal Fusiliers, with the 7th Hussars.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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